But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
(2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
According to the Bible, the gospel is the good news that a selfless Savior has undermined and even rectified mankind’s self-inflicted and ruinous plight. That Savior is Jesus (or Yeshua) the Messiah, the atoning lamb of God who bestows salvation upon those who place their trust in Him (Romans 5:6-10; John 3:16). One of the necessary implications of 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 is that this gospel in not hidden from those who need to hear it. Among those who need to hear this gospel include every single human whom God has ever brought into existence. For it is this same group of people who are in trouble and are hence in need of such a remedy. In other words, since all are entrenched in a ruinous plight then it is all who need to hear the gospel. Or, as Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:14: “if one died for all, then were all dead.”
But, have they not all heard the gospel (Romans 10:18)? Yes, all have indeed heard the gospel. At least that is what 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 necessarily implies. In that passage God reveals that all who are lost are lost due to unbelief. Matthew 13:19 says “when any one hears the word of the kingdom, and understands it not, then comes the wicked one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart.” Hence Matthew 13:19 confirms that the “god of this world”, i.e., Satan, blinds “the minds of them which believe not” only after they have first received the gospel (“the word of the kingdom”) and neglected to understand it. Second Corinthians 4:3-4 is saying that if the gospel is hid it is only hid to those who are lost. This lostness is not due to the gospel’s unavailability but to the blinded person’s willful negligence. The term blinded in verse 4 implies that someone is obstructing vision. If removing the blinders makes the gospel present then that must means the gospel was always available. Hence, the unbelief of those who are lost on the day of judgement is not an inopportune unbelief but a willful unbelief. Once the sinner professes that he doesn’t need the gospel then Satan comes along and removes what was unwanted. Satan blinds the sinner from seeing that which was deemed useless for him to behold.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4 also implies that the gospel is not hid to those who for one reason or another have not yet heard it. For if the gospel is only hid to those who have dared to disobey it, then that must mean it is available to all other children of Adam. Whether those who are yet to hear include: yourself, your neighbor, your miscarried child, the Pharaoh of the Exodus, the Amorites, the Amalekites, aborted babies, etc. it really makes no difference. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 implies that what is unhidden to those who have not heard the gospel is the gospel. On Judgment Day, God will ascertain whether each person has obeyed the gospel (Romans 2:16; Hebrews 2:3). According to the implications of 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, no one will, on that day, have a basis for claiming that the gospel of which God speaks was somehow hidden or inaccessible. In other words, on Judgment Day, there will only exist two categories of people: those who have obeyed the gospel and those who haven’t obeyed the gospel. There is no third category of those to whom the gospel was hidden.
For more information see: Everyone (Who Has Ever Lived) Will Hear The Gospel.
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